Differential Diagnosis, Specific Causation, and Daubert: An Update on Courts' Exclusion of Unreliable Expert Opinions in Toxic Tort and Other Product Liability Cases

Establishing specific causation in cases involving toxic substances requires proof of specific causation – that the plaintiff’s exposure to a substance capable of causing a particular disease in the general population actually caused the plaintiff’s disease. An expert’s differential diagnosis applied to specific causation “rules in” all scientifically plausible causes of the injury and then “rules out” the least plausible until only the most likely remains. This Webinar will provide an update on recent decisions from federal courts exercising their gatekeeping role under Daubert and excluding experts' differential diagnoses as unreliable, and will discuss the potential impact on future litigation.